Why Rats?

Why Choose Pet Rats?

I often get asked “why on earth do you want rats?”

My answer is simple…………. Why not? 🙂

Unfortunately quiet a few people still see rats as dirty and vermin, they don’t understand how anyone can love one let alone 20 + ;p
That is till they meet them and get to know them 🙂 Quiet a few of my friends when they first found out I had rats turned up their nose and pulled faces. Then they would come over and find them selves watching them, becoming more and more intrigued by them, and before they knew it they would be going home with their own fur babies to love 🙂

In my opinion, in this day and age rats can make better pets then cats and dogs. Why do I think this? Its because most people these day rent or work long hours and are unable to keep, or put the time into looking after cats and dogs. Rats on the other hand are relatively easy, their mess is confined to their cage, they don’t cost much to feed/look after, they are able to fit in small hands, they have their own personality and can be taught to play games and do tricks and there 30min walk/play time can be done on your shoulder while you watch tv or sit at your computer 🙂

They also make fantastic therapy pets! I got my son his first therapy rat when he was around 3, at the time he was pretty much non verbal, and screamed constantly, at that point he had not been diagnosed as being ASD. His pet rat was his best friend, they did everything together! But not only that my son started to scream less, he would pat my leg and point to the cage and would wait while I would go and get out his friend, they would play for hours, and when nap time came, my son would crash out with his friend on his chest. I would then go and collect his friend and put him away, till my son would wake up. When we lost his friend, it was a horrible day for us all, he had been apart of our family for almost 3.5years and he had changed our lives so much. Unfortunately my son has never been able to form such a strong bond with another since the passing of his friend, he has loved all his rats, but his friend will always be his one true heart rat.

Like everything in life rats do have their bad points, they don’t have long life spans, they can be prone to getting sick, & yes they can get a bit on the nose if their cage isn’t cleaned often (male’s need to be cleaned more often then female’s). And yes, if you don’t do your research, and if you don’t take the time to look around and get to know your possible local rat breeders/pet shop before adopting you may end up with a rat that doesn’t like to be held or a rat that bites.

However that being said, rats are the perfect pocket pets! An as long as you do your research on how to care for them and where you adopt them from, there is no reason as to why anyone shouldn’t have or want them as a pet.